secondary education - not privates school choices

There is no excuse now:it's not new legislation.

However, it was much the same during my school days. We lived just inside the limit, so had to watch the 'country buses' sail past as we waited for either one or two service buses. (My brother caught the two buses, I used to walk the first mile.)

Lavolcan
the 3 mile issue is a MASSIVE elephant in the room in rural areas
because houses near county boundaries are sometime nearer to a school "over the border" but lEAs have not yet got the mapping tools to untangle it ....
just a matter of time

near here we have a school within 20 feet of the LEA border
and the bus to take kids to a school 4 miles away stops outside it

There has been a bit of a fight going on in Oxfordshire about the transport issue, I am not sure whether it's been resolved. This was partly because their policy was slightly more generous than some. E.g only part of the village we used to live in was outside the 3 mile limit for secondary but they used to allow children from the nearer end of the village to take the bus also.

As far as transport goes: two miles for under 8s, and low income families up to 11 in England. Slightly different rules in Wales and NI.

www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/education_e/education_school_education_ew/help_with_school_costs.htm#statutory_walking_distance

But then again I can see that Greater London is going to be different. I am used to living in areas where the schools serve outlying villages where the bus services are patchy, so school buses for secondary pupils are the norm and even infants may be taxied to school.

LaVolcan I am not sure the principal has been tested because last year the parents offered one of the schools who did not make it a preference, around 9, did not take up the places, in at least two cases to my knowledge, keeping their 5 year old at home.

I think the LEA has to offer free transport if the school they offer is more than 3 miles away. Certainly that applies round here.

How is it working in Hackney with the banding +lottery approach to admissions? That does seem to me to be a good solution, but I don't know how it works in practice.

Mantorana - surely a school an hour's walk away is going to be about 3-4 miles away, so an under 8 should definitely be offered free transport if that is the one allocated to them?

As TamerB says most rural schools are Church schools and that's the one you go to. What these threads go to show is that the problems of cities and rural areas are often not the same, and nor should the solutions be.

You only have to jump through hoops to get into faith schools in cities,if they are oversubscribed. In rural areas most of the primary schools are church schools and they serve the community, you do not have to go to church, do have to be christened, do not have to be Christian. They serve the whole community. There is no other school choice.

I have asked for my previous comment to be withdrawn for reasons of confidentiality.

Sorry, shooting, that sounds ghastly. And good for Vince.

It won't surprise you to know that in My Glorious Reign there will be no faith schools either. Although the Terrier is a very conscientious little altar server- what with her being no good at non verbal reasoning........

Martorana Noooooooo, that is why a non faith parents in our borough has a 1 in 5 chance of not being offered a school place or one in the nearest six schools for their first child. In our suburb we have 3 C of E primaries, 2 catholic and two inclusive that are bursting at the seams. The Catholic Schools are totally exclusive of children whose parents have not had them baptised by six months and have a reference from their priest to say they are long standing practising Catholics, with apparently an unblemished record of attendance signed off even when away from home, and the Church of England Schools actually seem to be increasing the proportion of places for which priority is given based on church attendance in spite of guidance from above the diocese and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Their argument is that splitting the places between parishes based on church attendance widens the catchment So the pews are obviously heaving with parents of 3 and 4 year olds, no one can blame parents if the only way to get a place at a local school is to turn up at church every Sunday, and parents who cannot or will not meet the faith criteria that live on the doorstep of these schools have to put up with the traffic congestion at drop off and pick up as children are dropped off at the school whilst they have only the offer of the two schools that are not oversubscribed, tucked away in inaccessible suburbs two or three changes of bus or a hours walk away, if they have any offer at all. Vince Cable has risked upsetting the faith lobby on the issue www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/10500289.MP_wants_religious_schools_open_to_all/

Of course with the only way to address school place shortages being Free Schools or VA faith schools (thanks to our Council winning that principal at Judicial Review) that looks like being a more common issue for parents.

LaVolcan
I'm being childish - at the Catholic schools round here, most of the kids are Muslim - as the parents want single sex - with a good selection of sikhs, chinese and pagans outnumbering the poor catholics.
Catholic parents often give up on the horrific drives to distant schools and go to the comps

Martorana
admission stats show that in most of the country there are just about enough places.

It can't be the only school, though, can it? Except in a very few areas, aren't there are enough school places to go round?

Sorry, I have lowered the tone by asking a serious question - forgive me, it's past my bedtime!

Seriously though, what do you do when the only school is an oversubscribed Faith School and you didn't have your children christened at birth, or don't polish the brasses or whatever?

I suppose the answer could be to not allow them to make extra conditions - so exactly the same admittance criteria apply? You'd could still allow them to express their particular ethos: an RC school would hold masses or C of E to go to services in the Parish Church.

TalkingPeace - My DS goes to a faith comp...I bus him there to keep him out of the local secondary modern and nearby (super selective) grammar school.

I am doing so many people favours, it's untrue.

(And if your DS is in my DSs year & just scraped in to our local grammar school by the hair of their teeth you can thank me )

Private schools are great, they keep some of the incurable snobs out of state schools

Grammar schools are even better as they keep the really incurable snobs out of both private and comprehensive schools.

Faith schools are the best as they keep the hypocrites out of comps.

with apologies to Alan Coren

Now this really IS funny!

Diabolo, sadly, you're right, and thank you for the virtual wine, I have virtually drunk it and must need to hit myself virtually over the head with the virtual bottle if I have come back onto this thread tonight expecting anything to be any different!

State v private pugilists can argue themselves blue or red in the face for all I care, I just don't like watching adults reduce what is a fair point made by the original poster and a good debate to playground level.

I shall refrain from reasoned, friendly comments and add poo, bum and wee wee to my argument on the advice of my 7 year old DS. He reckons it works for him every time.

Not getting het up about anything!

And I'm not going to play the "I said, you said, they said" game. Sorry.

But it would be impossible for anyone who didn't have a "chip on their shoulder" to be remotely offended by the contents of this thread.

I have to jump into my battered Subaru Forester now to collect various family members from various activities.

you did say people chose selective education because they don't want to 'catch thick'.

I think she said that tongue in cheek.

I do sometimes wonder if some parents who have stretched themselves to afford a private education are trying to convince themselves that the sacrifice was worthwhile. They could then be a bit narked to hear about children who did better but went to the comprehensive, and that is why they are loud in their justifications about why a private school is better.

Now with a couple of families I know, their circumstances changed - divorce/redundancy - and suddenly the private schools were no longer an option and their tunes changed pretty smartish (and their DDs did well at the state schools).

mart on another thread you did say people chose selective education because they don't want to 'catch thick'.

I mean c'mon, generalisation-arama!!!!!

No point getting het up about other people making sweeoing generalisations when you're guilty as charged ...

Really?

And even less the other way martorana

I don't think anyone is saying that everyone conforms to an easy stereotype- but many do. And surely a little humour is allowed? Bearing in mind that this isn't 't a thread about a particular individual 's situation? Tha problem is that the stereotyped view some people seem to have of state school parents and pupils is so inaccurate and sometimes vile that there isn't much scope for humour the other way.......